Process of forming expanded metal.



A. BENSON & L. E. CURTIS.

. PROCESS OF FORMING EXPANDED METAL.

Y ARPLICATION FILED APR. 3. l9l8. 1,292,570

' Patented Jan. 28, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

INVENTORS ANDREW BENSON. LEWIS E,CURTIS. BY 1 7 M THEIR ATTORNEYS.

A. BENSON & L. E. CURTIS.

PROCESS OF FORMING EXPANDED METAL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 3. I918.

Patented Jan.' 28, 1919.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2 INVENTORSH- ANDREW BENSON LEWIS E. CURTIS THEIR ATTORNEYS.

A. BENSON & L. E. CURTIS.

PROCESS OF FORMING EXPANDED METAL.

APPLICATION FILED APR.3. 1918.

1,292,570. Patented Jan. 28, 1919.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

28 o so 37 as 22 27 M r M I 26 i1 o I 2: ll -33 O 7 4 E a DNVENTORS'.

ANDREW BENSON LEWIS E CURTIS BY 70WMW THEIR ATTOR N EYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

ANDREW BENSON, OF J'A'NESVILLE, WISCONSIN, AND LEWIS E. CURTIS, OF KENIL- WORTH, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS T0 TRUSSED CONCRETE STEEL COMPANY, 015 DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A. CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

PROCESS OF FORMING EXPANDED METAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 28, 1919.

Application filed April 8, 1918. Serial No. 226,884.

States, and residing at J anesville, county of Rock, and State of Wisconsin, and Kenilworth, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, respectively, have invented a new and Improved Process of Forming Expanded Metal, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the manufacture of metal lath of that type or class in which continuous strands extending diagonally from one edge of the sheet to the other cross each other, the strands bein integrally united at their intersections, an the present process consists in positioning the previously slitted sheet at an oblique angle to the path of movement of the meshes as they are formed so that the sides of the meshes as they are formed will move along a plane in arallel paths and preserve their original distances from each other.

This invention consists in a process of roducing reticulated metal from a sheet ormed with parallel lines of short slits, the

space between the slits of one line being opposite the slits of the ad'acent lines, and con sists in so positioning t e slitted sheet at an oblique angle to the paths of the expanded meshes as they are formed that the distances between two planes contacting with the ends of said sheet and positioned parallel to said paths is substantiall equal to the length of the desired expande material, and then expanding the slitted sheet by bending out the strands which form the meshes so as to carry out the strands away from the slitted sheet in a plane while still permitting them to remain parallel to the slitted sheet. It also consists in bending long sheets of properly slitted sheet metal intermediate their ends transversely to the lines of the slits and then simultaneously expanding the parts of the sheet by the present process. It further consists in securing the slitted sheet between a pair of holding members which will prevent more than one diagonal strand being started awa from any section of the sheet.

T e accompanying drawings illustrate the steps of this process and a simple mechanism by means of which the ex ansion of the metal may be carried out.

n them Figure 1 is a plan of a slitted sheet and Fi 2 is an edge view thereof. Fig. 3 is an e ge view of a sheet after being bent once intermediate its ends transversely to the lines of slits. F g. 4 IS a perspective view of this bent sheet with the expansion begun at corresponding corners of the two parts thereof. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the same sheet after the expansion has gone forward to such an extent that the open portions almost meet at the line of the bend. Fig. 6 is a third perspective view showing the expansion of the slitted sheet almost completed. Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the movement of the meshes. Fig. 8 is a front elevatlon of a simple machine for expanding the slitted sheets. Fig. 9 is a section on the line XX of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a detail of the bar which carries the hooks to engage the strands. Fig. 11 is a plan of the horizontally movable head.

Similar reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

In the manufacture of the expanded metal shown in the drawings wherein the strands are moved out from the plane of the slitted sheet to produce the meshes, provision has usually been made for the shortening of the sheet as the expansion proceeds. This is commonly done by so constructing the expanding machine that the parts that engage the strands alon the edge of the sheet may move toward eac other as the opening proceeds.

In the present process, the device that engages these edges of the sheet may be rigid as the parts retain their relative distances from a plane parallel to the path of movement of the engaging device from the time the-slitted sheet is positioned until the expansion is completed. This path of movement is at an oblique angle to the sheet being expanded, and the sheet is so positioned that the projected length of the slitted sheet on a plane perpendicular to the paths of movement of the meshes will substantiall equal the desired length of the expande material. The metal of the meshes moves away from the sheet in parallel lines and the relafrom the instant that the meshes are formed. Each mesh is formed by four short sections of strands and two of these sections 'tive positions of the particles do not change I will continue parallel to the slitted sheet as it was positioned previous to expanding.

The sheet 1 of metal is formed with short slits 2 in parallel lines, the metal between the slits of one line being opposite the slits of the two adjacent lines. "Whilea single flat sheet may be so positioned that its projectionon a plane perpendicular to the path of the meshes as the sheet is being expanded will be substantially equal to the intended length of the expanded material, we prefer to bend the sheet intermediate its ends transversely to the lines of the slits, and treat each section of the sheet as a separate sheet, that is, begin the expanding at corresponding corners of each section, no matter how many are formed. The angles between the sections of the sheet are such that the distance between the outer ends of two sections substantially equals the intended length of the expanded material A to be formed from those two sections. It is apparent that the expanding may be begun at any corner of the section.

Where the sheet is in two sections, we prefer to begin operations with the strands 3 and 4 at two outer corners and bend them out away from the plane of the two ends 5 to carry the strands 6 away from the planes of the two sections but permitting them to remain parallel thereto. At the next movement the two additional strands 7 and 8 and two more sections of the strands 3 and 4 are bent out to move out the strands 9.

But it will be noticed that the small rectangles 10 of metal which constitute the ends of the diagonal strands remain substantially in the plane of the ends 5 of the original slitted sheet 1, and that the strands 6 and 9 and the others parallel thereto remain parallel to the sheet 1 from which they are produced. The metal constituting the edge of the sheet of which edge the strands 6 form a part that is, the metal outside the first line of slits, will be engaged by a set of hooks which are not movable relative to each other.

The metal may be expanded in a machine such as shown in Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 11 The base 20 and upright frame 21 carry vertical guides 22 and horizontal guides 23. On the ormer the cross head 24 and inclines 25 rigidly attached thereto are slidable by means of the cables 26 that may be wound on the shaft 27 mounted in the bearings 28 on the cross bar 29. A crank 30 may be used to turn the shaft.

On these guides 22 is also slidable the vertically movable lower head 32 which is moved up and down by means of the link 33, crank 34, shaft 35 in bearings 36 on the base, and crank handle 37. An apron 38 is slidable on the horizontal guides 23, and the contacting faces of the parts 32 and 38 are so formed that a sheet of metal will be bent to approximately the desired angle between the strands of the desired expanded metal A.

ably one for each mesh of the expanded.

metal to be formed on the machine.

In operation, the cross head 24 and lower head 32 are lowered and a sheet of slitted metal is laid on the head 32. The apron 38 is moved inwardly until it engages the wedges 25 and the lower head 32 is brought up against the apron 38, thus bending the sheet to the desired angle. The cross head 24 is then raised and the end hoolm 89 will engage in the end slits of the two sections of the sheet and form the two meshes 10 shown in Fig. 4. At this time, the inclines 25 are pushing out the apron 38 which uncovers the next slits which are engaged by the next hooks 39 as the cross head rises. Because of the angular positions of the sections of the sheet relative to the cross bar,

the strands of the expanded sheet are not strained, in fact, the relative positions'of the metal fibers of half of the strands remain substantially the same, as shown by Figs. 4, 5 and 6. The expansion continues until the entire sheet has been opened out, at which time the sharp end of the apron 38 has slipped of the last portion of the sheet.

It will be evident that other and further duplications and modifications of details and proportions may be made by those skilled in the art and the processwhich forms the subject matter of this invention may still be employed.

We claim 1. The process of forming metal lath consisting in providing a sheet of metal with parallel lines of short slits, the spaces between the slits of each line being opposite the slits of the two adjacent lines, the lines of slits being separated by continuous strands, then moving the strands thus formed outward from the sheet, beginning at one corner, in such a path plane that the projection of the sheet on a plane perpendicular to said path will have substantially the same width as the intended expanded sheet.

2. The process of forming metal lath consisting in providing a sheet of metal with parallel lines of short slits, the spaces between the slits of each line being opposite the slits of the two adjacent lines, the lines of slits being separated by continuous strands, then moving the strands thus formed outward from the sheet, beginning at one corner, in such a path plane that the projection of the sheet on a plane perpendicular to said path will have substantiall the same width as the intendedexpan ed sheet, said path being at an obhque angle tosaid slitted sheet.

3. A rocess for producing expandmg metal w ich consists in forming a sheet with parallel lines of short slits, the spaces between the slits of one line being opposite the slits of the next adjacent 111168, then moving the metal at the outside of an end slit of one outside. line of slits away from the plane of the sheet the width of one mesh at an acute an Is to the sheet, then movin this mesh an the metal at the outside 0 the next slit of the same line away from thelane of the sheet the width of a mesh at't e same acute angle to the sheet, and then continuing the same operation, the metal adjacent the next slit of the first line 'being engaged without disengaging the previously enga ed portions after the forming of each new fine of meshes until all the slits have been opened to roduce meshes, after which the metal of all the outer meshes is moved onward as a unit until the entire sheet is expanded.

4. The process of producing expanded metal which consists in providing a sheet of metalwith parallel lines of short slits, the spaces between the slits of each line being opposite the slits of the next adjacent lines, then bendin the sheet intermediate its ends transverse y to the lines of slits, until 'the distance between the ends of the slitted sheet shall be substantially equal to the length of the intended expandedmetal, and then moving the metal outside of the end slits of the several sections of the sheet at corresponding ends of the sections perpendicular to the general plane of the sheet.

5. The process of producing expanded metal which consists in providing a sheet of metal with parallel lines of short slits, the spades between the slits of each line being opposite the slits of the next adjacent lines, then bending the sheet intermediate its ends transversely to the lines of slits, until the distance between the ends of the slitted sheet shall be substantially equal to the length of the intended expanded metal, and then moving the metal outside of the end slits. of the several sections of the sheet at corresponding ends of the sections perpendicular to the general plane of the sheet, which ends' of the sections are those that are farthest from the line toward which the meshes are moved.

6. The process of producing expanded metal which consists in providing a sheet of metal with parallel lines of short slits, securing the sheet with one edge parallel to the path plane of an expander provided with a series of eng 'ng means, one. for each slit of the e e hne of slits, the sheet being diagonal to t e path and substantially perpendicular to such plane and then moving the expander across the edge of the sheet so that the sections of the edge of the sheet outside of the slits along the adjacent edge of the sheet will be engaged one after another until all are engaged and then continuing the movement until the sheet is entirely expanded.

7. The process of producing expanded metal which consists in providing a sheet of metal with parallel lines of short slits, securing the sheet with one edge parallel to the path plane of an expander provided with engaging hooks, the sheet being diagonal and perpendicular to such plane and then moving the expander along the edge of the sheet so that the hooks on the expander will engage in the slits along the ad]acent edge of the sheet one after another until all are engaged and then continuing the movement until the sheet is entirely expanded.

8. The process of producing expanded metal which consists in providing a sheet of metal with parallel lines of short slits, securing the sheet with one edge parallel to the path plane of an expander provided with engaging hooks, the sheet being diagonal to the path and. substantially perpendicular to such plane, and then moving the expander across the edge of the sheet so that the hooks on the expander will engage in the slits along the adjacent edge of the sheetv one after another until all are engaged and then continuing the movement until the sheet is entirely expanded, said sheet being gripped between engaging surfaces, one of which recedes to graduall release the metal as the expansion procee s.

9. The process of forming metal lath consisting in providing a sheet of metal with paral el lines of short slits, the spaces between the slits of. each line being opposite the slits of the two adjacent lines, the lines of slits being separated by continuous strands, then moving the strands thus formed outward from the sheet, beginning at one corner, in such a path lane that the projection of the sheet on a p ane perpendicular to said path will have substantially the same width as the intended expanded sheet, the unexpanded portion of the slitted sheet, with the exce tion of the metal on each side of the outer s its, bein held stationa during the expansion of t e slitted meta 10. The process of producing e anded metal which consists in providing as act of metal with parallel lines of short slits, the spaces between the slits of each line being opposite the slits of the next adjacent lines, then bending the sheet intermediate its ends transversely to the lines of slits, until the distance between the ends of the slitted sheet shall be substantially equal to the length of the intended expanded metal, and then moving the metal outside of the'end slits of the several sections of the sheet at correspond ing ends of the sections perpendicular to the general plane of the sheet, which ends of the sections are those that are farthest from the line toward which the meshes-are moved, the

unexpanded portion of the slitted sheet, with the exce tion of the metal on each side of the outer s its, being held stationa during the expansion of the slitted meta 11. The process of producing expanded metal which consists in providing a sheet of metal with parallel lines of short slits, securing the sheet with one edge parallel to the path plane of an expander provided with engaging hooks, the sheet being diagonal and perpendicular to such plane and then moving the expander along the edge of the sheet so that the hooks on the expander will engage in the slits along the adjacent edge of the sheetone after another until all are engaged and then continuing the movement until the sheet is entirely expanded, the unexpanded portion of the slitted sheet, with the exception of the metal on each side of the outer slits, being held stationary during the expansion of the slitted metal.

12. The process of expanding sheet metal formed with parallel rows of .short slits, which consists in' subjecting the material of the sheet to a tension transverse to the plane of the slitted sheet, the expansion commencing at. a corner of the sheet and progressing along lines diagonal tovthe lines of slits, and the expanded material being moved away from the original sheet in a constant plane.

ANDREW BENSON. LEWIS E. CURTIS. 

